Chandigarh, December 6
A year after an Associate Professor of PEC submitted a complaint of sexual harassment against the Deputy Director of the institute, the UT police today registered a case after taking legal opinion. The police have booked Dr AM Kalra, Deputy Director, PEC University of Technology, and a former Director, Dr Manoj Datta, in a case under Sections 354-A, 500 and 509 (outraging modesty of a woman) of the IPC.

The victim, in her complaint submitted to the police last year, had alleged that she was sexually harassed by the Deputy Director, Dr AM Kalra. She had been struggling for the past three years to get a complaint registered against Kalra, who is a Professor in the civil engineering department at the university.

Former PEC Director Dutta is in the dock for not taking swift action on her complaint.

In her complaint, she had accused Datta of being hand in glove with Kalra and not taking action against him for the past two and a half years when she complained to him (Datta). She alleged that other women in the university, including faculty and students, had been victims. “A case filed by a girl student against him is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” she said.

In her compliant to the police, she said, “Kalra has been using foul language against me. By offering temptation of important official charges and in the guise of horoscope consultation in his office, this widower tried to gain my proximity. On not being successful in alluring me into his evil plans, he threatened me and misused his official position to harass and victimise me at the workplace.”

She said she had submitted a complaint against Kalra to the PEC authorities on February 9, 2010. Rather than initiating an inquiry to verify the facts in the complaint, the former PEC Director (Datta) allegedly advised her not to make such complaints against Kalra, she alleged. “The duo made my life terrible. My life is under immense threat. I ran from pillar to post to have my complaint heard. I even met senior police officials and the UT Administrator over the past three years. But nothing moved. God has answered my prayers. I feel justice will prevail now,” she said while speaking to Chandigarh Tribune. 

Panchkula, December 6
In a major development in the Jyoti murder case, one of the key witnesses, Dr Aditi Gupta, today turned hostile during a court hearing here.

Dr Gupta had signed a police statement stating that she had identified the accused, Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary, when he had come along with Jyoti, the victim in the case, to a Chandigarh-based clinic for her abortion.

In the statement, it had been mentioned that he remained in the clinic for a short duration.

According to defence counsel Amandeep Bindra, during the proceedings today, Dr Gupta said in the court that she had never made any statement before the police regarding the identification of the accused.

“She has been declared hostile by the public prosecutor,” said Bindra.

Dr Gupta said in the court today that she had written the name of Ramesh Kumar after cutting the earlier name of Ram Kumar.

Interestingly, the police had mentioned in the chargesheet that the accused had signed as Raj Kumar on a register at the clinic as a witness before the victim’s abortion. Then he (Ram Kumar) came back after sometime and cut the earlier signature and wrote Ramesh Kumar at that place.

“Today, Dr Gupta, who was present there (at the clinic) at that time, said she had herself written Ramesh Kumar on the register as the person, who had come there, had stated that his real name was Ramesh Kumar, not Ram Kumar,” Bindra said.

Dr Gupta and Dr Gurjit Kaur had conducted Jyoti’s abortion at the Chandigarh-based clinic of Dr Umesh Nandini Jindal.

“An opportunity was given to Dr Gupta to identify Chaudhary in the court today but she showed her inability in the matter,” said the defence counsel.

Another key witness, Dr Mamta, who had conducted the autopsy of Jyoti, too, kept mum when she was asked by the defence counsel that on what basis had she mentioned the possibility of the victim being run over by a vehicle in the autopsy report. “When we cross-examined Dr Mamta whether she had seen any marks of vehicle tyres on the victim's body, she kept mum,” said Bindra.

Seven witnesses, including Dr Gurjit Kaur, Dr Umesh Nandini and Ruby Talwar (owner of the house in which Jyoti had been staying as a PG), were cross-examined during the hearing today.

The victim’s father, Buti Ram, and her sister Ishu did not attend the court proceedings today as her father was not feeling well.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for December 23.

Chandigarh, December 6
With the UT police remaining clueless in the Pinki murder case even after five days of the crime and a day after it announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh, the police today showed the CCTV footage obtained from a shop in Palsora village to the victim's family. The 11-year-old girl is seen eating a packet of "Kurkure" in the footage and wandering near the shops all alone. The girl is seen in the footage on November 27 at 3.30 pm, precisely an hour before she went missing. She was later found murdered.

Pinki's mother Gudda Rani broke down on seeing her daughter in the footage. The girl is seen munching and playing and then disappears from the footage. "She is my Pinki," her mother screamed on seeing the footage. "The police is working on the case and we are hopeful the culprit will be arrested soon. My daughter was very small and innocent; she was fond of studying," said her mother Gudda Rani. Meanwhile, the special investigating team of the UT police has deployed policemen in civvies to gather intelligence inputs in the case that could lead to the girl's murderers. Area residents have demanded that there is a lot of forest cover around the village and it should be removed.

Pinki, a student of Class VI at a government school and resident of Palsora village, was found strangled to death with her body dumped in a jute sack in a jungle area in Sector 52 on December 1. The postmortem report of the girl revealed that she ws sexually assaulted before being murdered. She was missing since November 27.

Chandigarh, December 6
A single permit system for the states north of Delhi, including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and J &K, and Chandigarh has been proposed to make seamless travel possible for tourists, especially tourist buses and cars travelling in the region.

"To boost tourism in North India, we need to develop a system wherein a tourist doesn't have to pay for taxes at entry points of every state. Rather, tourist buses and cars should be asked to pay a single-permit tax applicable to all states. For this, we need integration between the northern states, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Home Ministry. We would meet and discuss the same with all concerned along with CII representatives so that the proposal is realised soon," said KK Sharma, Adviser to the UT Administrator while addressing the Conference on Seamless Tourism held under the aegis of the CII Tourism Fest-2013 here today.

He also announced that land has been earmarked for a convention centre in the city. "We are also coming up with a Tourist Facilitation Centre, which is under construction half a km away from the Capitol Complex. The aim of the Centre is to make getting visit permits to the complex an easy and smooth process. At present, tourists face many hurdles in getting passes issued due to security reasons," Sharma added.

The Capitol Complex houses the Secretariat, the Legislative Assembly and the High Court.

"To help tourism industry achieve its true potential, state spending across India should increase along with creation of Integrated Tourism Circuits (ITCs). There is also a need to market India well by organising more International events like the CII Tourism Fest," said Arjun Sharma, chairman of the CII Tourism Fest-2013 and the managing director of the Le Passage to India.

Chandigarh, December 6
Lack of cleanliness and professional guides are the biggest lacunae in promotion of tourism in the country, pointed out delegates during a conference on seamless tourism held at the CII tourism fest here today.

Giving examples of ill-maintenance of some tourist spots in Mumbai, Nakul Anand, the chairman of the CII National Committee on Tourism and the executive director of the ITC Hotels, said, "Cleanliness is one big area where we need to put in our efforts if we want to promote tourism."

"Also, instead of pressing for visa on arrival, which comes with security concerns, we should make efforts towards fast-tracking visa cases. We need to sell the benefits of tourism," added Anand.

"At least one theme-cum-amusement park like the Walt Disney World, the Universal Studios, the Europa Park etc in all northern states would be a game changer in the tourism sector's growth in the northern India," he emphasised.

Meanwhile, Anuradha Goyal, a blogger, shared her experiences with some tourist guides, whom she found misleading. She also suggested the ideas on "what all to check out in a city if you are there for a day, may be for a business meet." "Such pamphlets and ideas can do wonders for tourists in the city," she said.

Chandigarh, December 6
It seems that lobbying for upcoming elections for the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh (MC), has begun if the Congress Mayor’s speech during the inauguration of the Chrysanthemum Show is any indication. UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil opened the show here today.

During his speech, Mayor Subhash Chawla was all praise for the nominated councilors.

With Congress having 13 votes, including that of local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, BJP-SAD alliance 11 and BSP two, the nine nominated councillors would play the major role in the Mayoral elections slated for January 1, 2014. The nominated councillors are appointed by the UT Administration.

While addressing the gathering at a show organised by the MC at Terraced Garden, Sector 33, here, Chawla stated that he was thankful to the Administrator for giving him a good team of nominated councillors. “In the last two years, the nominated councillors have supported us on the development issues,” Chawla said.

A BJP councillor and the leader of the opposition, Arun Sood, stated that appreciating nominated councillors at a public function when the Mayoral elections were approaching was an exercise to secure their votes.

The nominated councilors, including Babu Lal, MP Kohli, Sat Paul Bansal and Prof Aruna Goel, were among those present at the function.

When contacted, Mayor Subhash Chawla said the nominated councillors had helped him in getting various development issues approved in the House and he was obliged to thank them. “I just wanted to thank the nominated councillors for the co-operation they had extended during my tenure, which is ending soon,” he stated.

Chandigarh, December 6
Rajiv Kumar Gupta, Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, has been invited by the United Nations Environment Program International Environmental Technology Centre (UNEP-IETC) to participate in a workshop on ‘Capacity Building for Sustainable Waste Management in the Asia-Pacific Region to Promote Eco-Town Model and Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM)’ to be held from December 10 to 12 in Osaka, Japan.

He will also present the case study on ‘Solid Waste Management in Chandigarh’.

Chandigarh, December 6
Contrary views were expressed by residents and business bodies on the implementation of Apartment Rules on the concluding day of the hearing session being conducted by the Board of Inquiry and Hearing, constituted to look into the objections and suggestions received on the Draft Master Plan-2031.

Mr Ranjit Sahgal, a resident of Sector 5, grandson of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (Nehru's sister), and Chand Nehru and Anil Nehru, in two separate suggestions opposed the implementation of the Apartment Rules. They said it would disturb the character of the city designed by Le Corbusier. However, the Chandigarh Business Council demanded implementation of the Apartment Rules for residential and commercial property.

On the previous dates of hearing, a number of prominent persons have submitted their objections regarding implementation of the Apartment Rules. The objections were that it is illegal, arbitrary to the edict of the city, without basis or rationale and destructive to the planned character of Sectors 1 to 30.

Chandigarh Business Council suggested vertical expansion of the commercial properties and sought permission to conduct business activity on the upper floors of SCF’s. The council demanded increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) of the commercial and industrial properties. To tackle the traffic congestion in commercial and residential areas, the council suggested provision of community parking. Commercial use of marla houses has also been demanded, said Jagdish Arora and JPS Kalra, president and general secretary, respectively, of the council.

Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, Arun Grover, sought 160 acres of land for the expansion of Panjab University and it’s earmarking in the master plan.

Venu Parsad, secretary, Housing, Punjab and AK Sinha, chief administrator, GMADA, demanded integration of the proposed master-plan of Chandigarh with the master-plan of surrounding areas of Punjab. The objections raised by them were similar to the objections filed last week by the Punjab Town and Planning Department. They sought rationalization of the inter-state boundary.

The Punjab officials demanded better inter-city connectivity of main roads of Chandigarh with the proposed roads in the master-plan of New Chandigarh. They demanded linking of three major roads of Chandigarh -- Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg and Vikas Marg with the proposed roads of Mohali and New Chandigarh.

Chandigarh, December 6
UT Administration organised a programme at the Tagore Theatre on the eve of Armed Forces Flag Day to display solidarity with the Armed Forces.

Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil was the Chief Guest and Lt Gen TS Gill, Chief Staff, HQ Western Command, was the ‘Guest of Honour’. KK Sharma, Adviser to the Administrator, MP Singh, Secretary to the Governor, Mohammed Shayin, Deputy Commissioner and officers from Western Command were also present on this occasion.

Two minutes silence was observed to convey condolences to Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa. A colourful ‘Souvenir’ prepared by Zila Sainik Welfare Office, Chandigarh, was released by the UT Administrator.

Those who were honoured on this occasion included Brig Sant Singh, Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, recipient of Maha Vir Chakra, Maj Gen Hardev Singh and ADG Bachan Singh Sadhrao, both recipients of Kirti Chakra. War-widows and seven disabled soldiers were also honoured. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 6
Patients at the PGIMER will soon be able to avail discount as high as 57.2 per cent on all medicines.

As the bid for the PGIMER’s first shop on discount-based allotment was opened today, the highest discount quoted by a Sector 45-based chemist was 57.2 per cent.

The allotment process for this shop in PGIMER’s old shopping complex (backside of the Dental Department) will soon be completed and it will start next month, sources in the PGIMER administration said.

The PGIMER had specified a minimum 50 per cent discount as the key condition in the tender.

Besides providing discount on medicines, the chemist will also have to deposit Rs 50,00,000 as security. Unlike the existing contracts with other chemists on the campus, the new contract provides for forfeiture of security in case the chemist decides to leave the shop.

Sources said the terms and conditions of the new contract also include a provision where the institute could impose penalties on chemist for not stocking certain medicines.

There are a total of 15 chemist shops on the PGIMER campus. The monthly rents paid by the chemists range between Rs 70,000 (paid by chemists in Gol market) and Rs 52 lakh (paid by chemists in the emergency wing).

At present, it is mandatory for all chemists to provide discount of 15 per cent on branded drugs and 30 per cent on generic drugs and surgical items.

The pattern is already being followed at the AIIMS, New Delhi, where chemists offer discounts as high as 56 per cent. The Chandigarh Chemists’ Association had taken exception to the terms and conditions of the proposal and threatened to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court two weeks ago.

Chandigarh, December 6
The three-day Chrysanthemum Show-2013 was inaugurated at the Terraced Garden, Sector 33, here today.

The show being organised by the Municipal Corporation (MC) has as many as 253 varieties on display. Last year, the show had witnessed nearly 245 varieties of the plant.

On the inaugural day, artistes of the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) and students of the Gurukul Global School, Sector 20, Panchkula, presented a cultural programme. Besides, painting and fancy dress competitions were also held on the occasion. 

Chandigarh, December 6
Christmas fever has already arrived in the air. The Tri-City Christian Choir formed under the aegis of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Chandigarh Chapter, will be performing “Story of Christmas”, a compilation of Christmas-themed classical, semi-classical and traditional music, tomorrow at the St Stephen’s School Auditorium at 6:30 pm.

Arvind Noel, general secretary of the YMCA, said the event would see the performance of multi-lingual Christmas choirs.

“We will have choir in eight Indian languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Malayam, Nepali, English,” he said.

“With a total of 80 participants, this event is also an opportunity for different communities living in the tricity to come together and celebrate Christmas in their own distinct way. People will also get an opportunity to see the tradition of choir in different cultures and regions,” he said.

The Tri-City Christian Choir was formed under the YMCA in January 2012. To begin with, it had only 9 members. The choir now boasts of more than 80 members drawn from various walks of life and different Church traditions in true ecumenical spirit of the YMCA, he said.

Chandigarh, December 6
There is a ray of hope to get the prestigious UNESCO heritage status for certain buildings designed by French architect Le Corbusier.

After a failed attempt in 2006 to get the status for the city, the UT would now be vying to get it for architectural masterpieces in the Capitol Complex. The UT Administration, in consultation with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), would be filing serial nomination as part of the trans-national dossier. The trans-national dossier would contain details of heritage buildings of different countries.

UT Advisor KK Sharma, who along with UT Chief Architect Sumit Kaur returned from a visit to Paris, shared the recent development on the heritage status. The officials had represented Chandigarh in connection with the heritage status for the city.

Following the new development, the UT would be doing voluminous exercise to classify and prepare a detailed document of the architectural masterpieces in the city before the case is put up before the UNESCO.

UT officials said depending upon the clearances from Centre, the dossier could be taken up as part of nominations listed for 2015. The deadline for 2014 has elapsed.

Referring to the discussion held at Paris, the Advisor said officials in France were quite keen on taking up the case of buildings designed by Le Corbusier. “Only the original parts of the Civil Secretariat and the Punjab and Haryana High Court would be added to the list. The two buildings would be living models unlike other heritage buildings that remain unoccupied,” said UT officials.

In 2006, the Administration had prepared a dossier but did not succeed as the case had not been routed through the Centre.

Once the Administration succeeds in getting the heritage status, the UNESCO would be providing technical and financial aid in preserving the heritage buildings. 

Chandigarh, December 6
Intensifying the drives being carried out by the Engineering Department and office of the House Allotment Committee, UT, to check misuse of government houses on account of sub-letting and utilisation of government houses for commercial purposes, 12 inspection teams were constituted today to conduct surprise checking at government houses.

The teams includes officials of the committee and the Engineering Wing of the Chandigarh Administration. Immediately after checking, the inspection team would submit report to the committee.

An employee held guilty of sub-letting the allotted government accommodation shall have to pay penal rent 50 times of the normal licence fee. The employee shall also be liable for a disciplinary action under the relevant Conduct Rules. Furthermore, the Rules provide that such an employee shall not be entitled to another government residence during his entire service period. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 6
Private schools in the city, especially those having the minority status, seem to be in a fix following the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s yesterday’s judgment clarifying that all schools would have to fulfil the contractual obligation of reserving 15 per cent of their seats for the economically weaker section (EWS) arising out of allotment of land at concessional rates.

Chandigarh has 14 minority schools, and except St Stephen School, Sector 45, none of the minority schools have reserved their entry-level seat for EWS students for the next academic session.

These schools are taking immunity from the Supreme Court judgment, which is giving relaxation to the minority schools from implementing 25 per cent reservation under the Right to Education Act.

DPI (S) Kamlesh Kumar said all the schools, irrespective of any status, would have to adhere to the state obligation of 15 per cent reservation in lieu of concessional land given to them.

While confirming that the department would soon start implementing the state obligatory provisions, he said some of the schools were trying to dispute this matter by arguing that the condition of the 15 per cent reservation did not imply on the schools that were allotted land before 1996. “However, the schools, whether they were allotted land before 1996 or after 1996, are under obligation to adhere to this reservation, he said.

“In case of minority schools, the total reservation will be 15 per cent, and for non-minority schools, 25 per cent of the entry-level seats will be reserved as per the RTE Act,” he said. However, different schools had different opinions on this issue.

Kavita Das, principal of one of the minority schools, St John’s High School, said: “Since the school owns the freehold property, it does not come under the previous state EWS obligation. This was also conveyed to the Education Department”.

ABS Sidhu, principal of another minority school, Saupin’s School, Sector 32, said: “The issue of 15 per cent reservation is still contradictory. For instance, the allotment letter issued to his school had no mention of any reservation for the EWS quota. Moreover, my school is a minority school and the state can’t impose any quota on my school,” he said.

RTE activist Hemant Goswami said the Education Department must ensure the proper implementation of the High Court judgment.

Chandigarh, December 6
Over 150 students of Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Sector 46, staged a protest on the college campus today, demonstrating over five-month delay in the declaration of result and ambiguity on the college’s affiliation.

These students, especially those currently in the final year in the Bachelor in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course, have been spending sleepless nights. The five-month delay in the declaration of result of the final-year students and the disputed affiliation of the college has put the career of the students at stake.

As the disaffiliation of the college is being attributed as the cause for Panjab University withholding the results, the students are fearing that their degrees, whenever issued, will not be recognised anywhere.

The students staged the dharna from 10 am to 5 pm today. Dr PS Thakur, principal of the college, told the students that the matter would be resolved soon. Some representatives also visited the Panjab University authorities to get clarity on the status of the college’s recognition.

This batch of about 50 students, which is being majorly affected due to the ambiguity, was admitted in 2010 and objections were raised by a PU Senator over the “inadequate” infrastructure in the college. The college authorities later moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and provisional affiliation was granted to the college. PU officials told the students that an undertaking is awaited from the college authorities, which has kept the result declaration pending.

Chandigarh, December 6
Guest schoolteachers of the UT submitted a memorandum to the Education Department demanding an increase in salaries on a par with contractual teachers working in the department.

Rajbir Samdhyan, president of the Guest Teachers' Union, Chandigarh, said: “The guest faculty and contractual teachers are working against the sanctioned post in government schools. Every guest teacher and contractual teacher also performs same duties, but there is a huge difference when it comes to withdrawing salaries and other benefits”.

Demanding a hike in salaries on a par with contractual teachers, he said a contractual Junior Basic Teacher (JBT) was drawing salary close to Rs 26,000, whereas a guest JBT teacher was being paid merely Rs 15,000.

“Similarly, a contractual Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) is paid Rs 30,000, whereas a TGT guest teacher is paid Rs 18,000,” he said.

He said as per the RTI reply by the Education Department, there was no difference in the post of the guest faculty and contractual teachers. But the appointments were against the sanctioned posts. The Chandigarh Administration was soon to revise the consolidated salary of the contractual teachers.

“We demand that our salaries should also be revised and there should be same pay for same work,” he said.

The members of the association said their recent meeting with DPI (S) Kamlesh Kumar was fruitful. He had assured them of taking up their matter with higher officials.

Chandigarh, December 6
iScuela+ tablet was launched in the city yesterday. It has been designed and prepared for children from Grade 1 to Grade 10. The content has been prepared keeping in mind the national curriculum framework.

Maninder Singh Bajwa, MD of the company, said the idea behind the product was to give an avenue to the kids to learn with innovative technology. It aims at addressing the needs of parents who are constantly looking for the best of the learning modules for their children. It aims at bridging the gap in the quality of education in society by bringing self-learning educative platform for children.

Among its unique features, he said there was no need of Internet connection to use this tablet. With hundreds of 3D videos, children can visually connect with the content helping them to grasp the concept easily. It also allows children to see, interact and internalise the geographical maps with ease. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 6
A team of medical experts from El Camino in San Francisco in the US today visited Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Banur, to sign a MoU with Gian Sagar Educational and Charitable Trust for exchange of students, faculty members and cooperation in the field of research.

The team comprising experts from El Camino Hospital (ECH) led by Nandini Tandon came as a part of the programme initiated by Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur. The El Camino Hospital (ECH) team went round the hospital and interacted with senior faculty members. The MoU signed between the two institutions said they were willing to cooperate for mutual benefit in improving patient care. The ECH offered expertise such as oncology, breast cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, women-related diseases and health issues, medical innovation, robotics and community care field. 

Chandigarh, December 6
Tribune in Education (TIE) organised puppet shows in various schools of Mohali. The shows depicted the old culture and heritage of Rajasthan. The puppeteer staged the scenes from the epics of Maharana Pratap, Raja Maan Singh, Amar Singh Rathore and Akbar.

Students of Shastri Model School, Phase I, Sant Isher Singh Public School, Sector 70, Ashma International School, Sector 70, St Xavier’s School, Sector 71, and Green Field School, Phase V, Mohali, thoroughly enjoyed the puppet show and appreciated it.